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About

An excitingly fresh take on some classic themes and ideas, THE SECOND MOTHER centers around Val, a hard-working live-in housekeeper in modern day Sao Paulo. Val is perfectly content to take care of every one of her wealthy employers’ needs, from cooking and cleaning to being a surrogate mother to their teenage son, who she has raised since he was a toddler. But when Val’s estranged daughter Jessica suddenly shows up the unspoken but intrinsic class barriers that exist within the home are thrown into disarray. Jessica is smart, confident, and ambitious, and refuses to accept the upstairs/downstairs dynamic, testing relationships and loyalties and forcing everyone to reconsider what family really means.

Regina Casé - "Val"

Regina Casé has been working in film, television and on stage for over 40 years. She is one of the most important artistic talents in Brazil today. Casé began her career with the theater group Asdrúbal Trouxe o Trombone, where she had her breakout role with the play Trate-Me Leao. She later began a successful career with TV Globo in daytime dramas and comedy program TV Pirata. Casé has worked in numerous movies including OS 7 GATINHOS (1980) by Neville de Almeida, ME YOU THEM (2000) by Andrucha Waddington and, more recently, RIO, I LOVE YOU (2014) and MADE IN CHINA (2014) by Estevao Ciavatta. Casé has also been producing television shows for many years, focusing on programs that revolve around popular Brazilian culture. She is currently the host of TV Globo’s ESQUENTA!, one of the few programs playing today which has bridged the gap between pop culture and major media.

Michel Joelsas - "Fabinho"

At the age of 10 he shot his first film "O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias" (The year my parents went on vacation) (2006), directed by Cao Hamburger and written by Anna Muylaert and Claudio Galperin. He played Mauro, the main character. The film was in competition at Berlinale. He also worked in "A Suprema Felicidade" by Arnaldo Jabor (2010). In 2014 he met Anna Muylaert again, playing Fabinho, at her film "The Second Mother" (2015), which won the audience prize at Panorama, Berlinale. In 2015 he played Henrique in a soap opera, "Malhaçao" (2015) at TV Globo. Nowadays he is getting prepared to get into the Drama School of São Paulo University.

Camila Márdila - "Jessica"

Márdila is a brazilian actress who recently won the Special Jury Award for Acting at 2015 Sundance Film Festival for her role in Anna Muylaert's "The Second Mother". She usually makes work in theater and has a group called AREAS Collective Arts, exploring collaborative creation processes. Camila is also part of some performances and plays created by Adriano and Fernando Guimarães, important theater artists specialists in Samuel Beckett's scenes. The movie “The other side of paradise”, directed by André Ristum (to be released) was her first feature film acting experience.

Anna Muylaert - Writer/Director

Anna Muylaert (b. 1964) is a Brazilian screenwriter and television/film director. After studying filmmaking at the School of Communications and Arts at the University of Sao Paulo (USP) Muylaert became a film critic for IsotÉ and O Estado de S. Paulo and in 1988 she joined the staff of Rede Gazeta’s program TV Mix. In 1999, she worked as an editor and reporter on TV Cultura’s Matéria-Prima. She also wrote scripts on other Cultura programs, Mundo da Lua (1991–92) and Castelo Rá-Tim-Bum (1994–97). Muylaert has directed six short films—the most notable being A Origem dos Bebês Segundo Kiki Cavalcanti (1995) which won awards at Rio Cine e Cine Ceará—before directing her first feature film, Durval Discos (2002). It won numerous awards at the Festival de Gramado, including Best Director and Best Film. Seven years after she released her second film, É Priobido Fumar, which won eight awards at Festival de Brasília, including Best Screenplay and Best Film. Muylaert directed Chamada a Cobarar (2012), based on a television film Para Aceitá-la Continue na Linha (2010), of which she was also the director. Her fourth film, The Second Mother, premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize for Acting, and then went on to play the Panorama section at the Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award.

Gullane - Production Company

founded in 1996, is one of the best-known and most acclaimed Brazilian production companies operating today. The company prides itself on specializing in international co-productions. In recent years, Gullane has produced such successful films as BRAINSTORM (2001) by Laís Bodanzky, an Offical Selection at Toronto and Lorarno 2001; CARANDIRU (2003) by Hector Babenco, in Competition at Cannes in 2003; THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION (2007) by Cao Hamburger, in Competition at Berlin 2007; BIRDWATCHERS (2008), co-produced in Italy by March Bechis, in Competition at Venice in 2008; TABU (2012), co-produced in Portugal, Germany and France by Miguel Gomes, in Competition at Berlin in 2012; RIO 2096. A STORY OF LOVE AND FURY (2013) by Luis Bolognesi, Winner of Best Film at Annecy 2013; AMAZONIA 3D, co-produced in France by Thierry Ragobert, the Closing Film at Venice 2013; and A WOLF AT THE DOOR by Fernando Coimbra, Winner of Best Film at San Sebastian in 2013. Besides cinema, Gullane produces content for both Brazilian and international broadcast television including HBO, TV Globo, TV Brasil, Record and more.

"This densely-layered yet fast-paced drama…dissects with both chilling precision and humor such matters as class differences, real mothers vs. caretakers, and whether privilege and one’s own station are things that can be questioned or changed." Boyd Van Joeij, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

"One of the most accomplished, sure-handed films of the [20015 Sundance Film] festival." Sydney Levin, INDIEWIRE

"The Second Mother is easily one of the best films I’ve seen this year. It’s deeply satisfyingly to see a story so deceptively simple unfold with such thoughtful and thought provoking resonance." Sasha Stone, AWARDS DAILY

"The Second Mother is a smart yet subtle portrait of the incalculable riches of a good relationship between parents and children." Monica Castillo, PASTE

"It smartly uses its little moments of humiliation to open our eyes to a world of delicate, but deep, injustice." Bilge Ebiri, VULTURE

"A magnificent drama about the charged relationship between household help and the household." Dana Stevens, SLATE